Liquor supply for an automated liquor dispensing system

ABSTRACT

A liquor supply is disclosed for an automated liquor dispensing system. The liquor supply comprises a plurality of liquor storage bottles that are interconnected such that their interiors are connected in series. The first bottle of the series is connected to a positive displacement pump and the last bottle of the series has the surface of the liquor therein exposed to the atmospheric pressure. As the liquor is withdrawn by the pump from the first bottle the atmospheric pressure in the last bottle forces liquor to be transferred from each bottle in the series toward the bottle next closer to the pump thus enabling all the liquor in the bottles to be made available for dispensing by the pump.

United States Patent [191 1111 3,845,787 Slagle Nov. 5, 1974 [54] LIQUOR SUPPLY FOR AN AUTOMATED 2,814,423 11/1957 Clare 215/79 X LIQUOR DISPENSING SYSTEM 2,954,045 9/1960 Leek. Jr 137/590 X 3,015,419 1/1962 Arnctt et ul. 137/571 X [75] Inventor: William E. Slagle, Barrington, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Lincoln Hall Research C0., P i E m wi11i R, Cli

Lincolnwood, 111.

[22] Filed. May 17, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. N0.: 361,342

A liquor supply isdisclosed for an automated liquor Related APPllcatmn Data dispensing system. The liquor supply comprises a plu- [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 193,137, Oct. 27, 1971, rality of liquor storage bottles that are interconnected abandoned such that their interiors are connected in series. The

first bottle of the series is connected to a positive disl l Cl placement pump and the last bottle of the series has /5 215/79 the surface of the liquor therein exposed to the atmol 1111- C1 365d 0, 365d 51/16 spheric pressure. As the liquor is withdrawn by the Field Of Search 7 pump from the first bottle the atmospheric pressure in 137/ the last bottle forces liquor to be transferred from 5 .6.2n79 each bottle in the series toward the bottle next closer to the pump thus enabling all the liquor in the bottles References Cited to be made available for dispensing by the pump.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,424,930 7/1947 Jackson 215/56 Clam" 8 Drawmg F'gures PATENTEDnuv' 5 m4 saw 1 or 2 r v INVENTOR. I/V/LL/A/W 5: 54,4645

mmy l driven/5J6 LIQUOR SUPPLY FOR AN AUTOMATED LIQUOR DISPENSING SYSTEM The present application is a continuation of my copending application Ser. No. 193,137, filed Oct. 27,

1971 now abandoned.

This invention relates to an automated liquor dispensing system and more particularly to such a system which provides a novel arrangement for enabling a disple, is connected by way of a supply tube to a dispensing pump which provides for withdrawing the liquor therefrom by creating suction in a liquid metering chamber. Each time the pump is initiated under the control of a bartender, the system provides for dispensing a shot of liquor through a nozzle. When all the liquor in the storage bottle has been used up it is neces-.

sary to replace the empty bottle with a full one.

In order to avoid this need to replace the storage bottle of liquor each time it is empty, the present invention provides for connecting the interiors of a plurality of such half-gallon liquorbottles in series by tubing attached to airtight stoppers provided in the mouths of each of the bottles. The first bottle in the series is connected to the dispensing pump and the last bottle in the series has its interior connected to the atmospheric air pressure. Thus when the dispensing pump is operated to draw a shot of liquor from the first bottle, an equivalent amount of liquor is transferred from each of the remaining bottles of a series toward the next forward bottle. With such an arrangement the liquor supply can be left unattended for considerably longer periods of time since the liquor in all of the storage bottles of the series is available for being dispensed by the pump.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel liquor supply for use in an automated liquor dispensing system.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple arrangement for interconnecting a plurality of liquor storage bottles in series so that the liquor in all of the bottles is available for being dispensed by a pump connected only to the first bottle in the series.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel, airtight stopper for the mouth of a liquor bottle which stopper is provided with passageways for enabling the bottle to be connected by tubing in series with other bottles similarly provided with airtight stoppers.

For a more complete disclosure of the present inven- 2 FIG. 4 is a view, partly in section, of a dispensing pump;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view showing the stopper of FIG. 3 positioned in the mouth of a storage bottle;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a check valve device provided on the end of the dip tube extending into the interior of the first storagebottle; 1

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the check valve device as taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a view showing the action of the check valve device on the end of the dip tube in the first storage bottle when the dip tube is removed therefrom.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a liquor dispensing system is shown which incorporates the liquor supply arrangement of the present invention. The system includes a positive displacement pump 11 which under the control of a push button 12 on a hand operated nozzle assembly 16 provides for dispensing liquor through a nozzle 13 as supplied from a plurality of half-gallon liquor bottles, for example, such as the four bottles 20,

21, 22 and 23 shown; Each of the four bottles is dis tion and for further objects and advantages thereof, reference may now be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the liquor supply system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates how the liquor storage bottles of the system shown in FIG. 1 may be replaced and rearranged in order to replenish the liquor supply;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a stopper used for the mouth of a storage bottle;

posed in a vertically upright position and the mouth on the upper end of each of the bottles is provided with an airtight stopper 25. As will be described subsequently in connection with FIG. 5, each stopper 25 has an inlet passageway 27 and an outlet passageway 28 therethrough. Short lengths of plastic tubing attached to fittings on the stoppers 25 provide for connecting the interiors of the storage bottles in series. Thus as shown in FIG. 1, a tube 31 connects the outlet passageway 28 in the stopper 25 of the second bottle 21 to the inletpassageway 27 in the stopper 25 of the first bottle 20, a tube 33 connects the outlet passageway 28 in the stopper 25 of the third bottle 22 to the inlet passageway 27 in the stopper 25 of the second bottle 21, and a tube 35 connects the outlet passageway 28 in the stopper 25 of the fourth bottle 23 to the inlet passageway 27 in the stopper 25 of the third bottle 22. The first bottle 20 has the outlet passageway 28 of its stopper 25 connected by a tube 29 to the inlet 39 of the pump 11. The outlet 40 of the pump 11 is connected by a supply tube 41 to the nozzle assembly 16. The inlet passageway 27 of the stopper 25 of the fourth and last bottle 23 in the series has a short length of tube 37 connected thereto which is open to the atmosphere. The end of tube 37 is turned downwardly to prevent falling dust particles and the like from entering the bottle.

A dip tube 30 is connected to the lower end of the outlet passageway 28 in stopper 25 of the first bottle 20 in the series, and dip tubes 32, 34 and 36 are similarly connected to the lower end of the outlet passageways 28 in each of the stoppers 25 of the second, third and fourth bottles 21, 22 and 23 respectively. The end of the dip tube 30 in the first bottle 20 is provided with a check valve device 38. The ends of the dip tubes 32, 34 and 36 in the second, third and fourth bottles 21, 22 and 23, respectively, are cut at a slight angle, as shown by the cut end 32a of dip tube 32, for example. The ends of these dip tubes are cut at an angle so as to avoid a sealing engagement of the end of the dip tube with the bottom of the bottle. Each of the dip tubes is made slightly long so that its lower end is forced against the side wall of the bottle, which results from the fact that the bottom wall of the bottle is convexly curved some.- what upwardly at its center. The dip tube is therefore positioned at the lowest point of the interior of the bottle and the slight angle of the cut end of the dip tube insures drawing the liquid down to an extremely low level.

The automated liquor dispensing system shown in FIG. 1 operates to dispense a shot of liquor through a nozzle 13 by causing the pump 11 to draw liquor from the liquor supply in response to the depressing of the button 12 in the nozzle housing 16. As will be discussed later in connection with FIG. 4 the pump 11 creates a suction in a liquid metering chamber 43 provided therein which functions to draw liquor from the first vertically upright bottle by way of tube 29. Liquor displaced in this way from the first bottle 20 creates a lower pressure therein which functions to draw liquor from the second bottle 21 by way of tube 31. The lowered pressure created in the second bottle 21 in turn draws liquor by way of tube 33 from the third bottle 22 and the lowered pressure created in the third bottle 22 in turn draws liquor by way of tube 35 from the fourth bottle 23. As previously noted, the fourth and last bottle 23 in the series has an opening to the atmosphere by way of tube 37. Thus when a vacuum is produced in the chamber 43 of the pump 11 the atmospheric pressure on the surface of the liquor in the last bottle 23 forces the liquor to be transferred from the last bottle 23 to the third bottle 22, from the third bottle 22 to the second bottle 21, from the second bottle 21 to the first bottle 20, and from the first bottle 20 into the metering chamber 43 of the pump 11.

It should be noted that the liquor dispensing system as illustrated in FIG. 1 represents a situation wherein the liquor has already been dispensed from the last two bottles 22' and 23 and partly dispensed from the second bottle 21 of the series. Under these conditions the first bottle 20 of the series is as full as it ever was.

The dispensing pump 11, as shown in FIG. 4 includes a main housing 42 which has a cylindrical opening on the upper portion thereof which defines the liquor metering chamber 43. The upper end wall of the chamber 43 is provided with an inlet port 44 and an outlet port 45. The lower end wall of the cylindrical chamber 43 is formed by the top of a movable piston 48 which, when in its retracted or lowered position, as shown, resides in a cylindrical gas chamber 49 formed in a piston housing 51 secured in a cylindrical opening 53a provided on the lower portion of the main housing 42. The piston 48 is covered with a flexible bellofram 50 which covers the lower end of the piston 48 as well as its cylindrical side wall and extends peripherally outwardly from the upper end of the piston 48. The peripheral extremity of the bellofram 50 is retained between an inner annular shoulder 56 of main housing 42 and the upper circumferential end face of the piston housing 51. A metal end cap 58 fits over the lower end of the piston 48 to retain the bellofram 50 in place. A piston rod 54 attached to the bottom of piston 48 has a nut thereon which holds the cap 58 in place. When the piston 48 travels upwardly the bellofram 50 is progressively peeled back from the circumferential wall of the piston and hence serves to maintain a tight pressure seal between the liquor metering chamber 43 and the gas chamber 49.

The piston 48 is normally held in its lowered position by a spring 53 which provides a downward force on the lower end of piston rod 54. During the operation of the dispensing system, when the piston 48 is in its lowered position, the metering chamber 43 is filled with liquor transferred therein via tube 29v from the first liquor bottle 20. As disclosed in the aforementioned Jaeger application, Ser. No. 312,926, in order to operate the pump 11 a pressurized gas such as carbon dioxide is fed into the inlet 55 of a control housing 52 attached on the side of the main housing'42. A valve 59in the control housing 52 normally prevents the pressurized gas from being carried through passage 60 and passages 63 leading to the lower end of the gas chamber 49. However, when the push button 12 on the nozzle housing 16 is depressed by the bartender the pressure relief tube 63a connected to the inlet 64 of the control housing 52 en- I ables the valve 59 in the control housing 52 to open.

The opening of valve 59'permits the pressurized gas to be introduced by passages and 63 into the gas chamber 49 forcing the piston 48 residing therein to travel upwardly against the action of the spring 53. This causes the liquor in the metering chamber 43 to-be forced through its outlet port 45 and check valve 46 into the supply tube 41 leading to'the nozzle housing 16 wherein the liquor is dispensed through the nozzle 13.

When the top of the piston 48 reaches the top of the metering chamber 43, the pressure in the chamber 43 decreases and this decreased pressure, as sensed in sensing passageway 62, causes the valve 59 in the control housing 52 to be again closed and the passageway leading from the gas chamber 49 to the atmosphere to be opened, which lowers the pressure on the underside of the piston 48 enabling it to be returned to its lower position by spring 53. The downward travel of the piston 48 creates a partial vacuum in the metering chamber 43 which causes check valve 47 to open and liquor to be drawn via tube 29 out of the first bottle 20 and through inlet port 44 into the metering chamber 43 and an equivalent amount of liquor to be transferred in a forwardly direction in each of the successive bottles 21, 22, and 23 of the series. In order to obtain a more complete description of the detail structure and operation of the control housing 52 on the pump 11 and the nozzle assembly 16, reference may be made to the aforementioned Jaeger application,Ser. No. 3l2,926.

A description, will next be presented, of the details of stopper 25. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, stopper 25 comprises an elongated frusto-conical body 66 formed on the upper end thereof with a short cylindrical shell 68 having an enlarged diameter. Extending'through the length of the body 66 are openings defining the inlet passageway 27 and the outlet passageway 28 each radially spaced from the axial center of the body 66. Positioned within the open outer end of the-cylindrical shell 68 and firmly secured therein by an appropriate glue is a disc shaped member 70 provided with two L-shaped passages 71 and 72. The respective openings of the passages 71 and 72 on the lower surface of the disc shaped member 70 are aligned to communicate with the respective openings of the passageways 27 and 28 in the body 66 while the respective openings of the passages 71 and 72 on the upper end of the disc shaped member 70 are more radially offset from the center of the disc shaped member. Tube fittings 73 and 74 are integrally formed on the upper surface of the disc-shaped member 70 above the respective openings of the passages 71 and 72, and a tube fitting 75 is similarly integrally formed on the lower end of the outlet passageway 28 on the body 66. As shown in FIG. 5 when the tubes 29 and 31 are attached to the fitting 73 and 74, respectively, of a stopper 25 they are held thereon with an airtight fit by barbs 73a and 74a formed on the respective fittings. The body 66 and disc shaped member 70 are preferably separate moldings formed of a hard plastic material and the disc shaped member 70 is separately formed to facilitate the manufacturing of the stopper 25.

Surrounding the body 66 of the stopper is a frustoconical sleeve 77 formed of a resilient plastic material. The sleeve 77 has an airtight fit about the outer surface of the body 66 and provides for adapting the body 66 to fit onto the neck of a liquor bottle with an air tight fit. The wall thickness of sleeve 77 is preferably made in a large size and small size such that the sleeve can adapt the body 66 of the stopper 25 to have an airtight fit in bottles having a wide range of mouth sizes. The sleeve 77 is made of a more resilient material, as compared with the material used to form the body 66, so that it can readily accommodate variations in the size and shape of the bottle neck and still provide an air tight seal.

As shown in FIGS. 68 the check valve device 38 on the lower end of the dip tube in the first bottle 20 comprises a hollow body 79 molded of a hard, plastic material. The check valve device 38 is connected to the dip tube 30 by a tubing coupler 78 which has the lower end thereof securely fitted within the upper portion of the body 79 and upper end thereof securely attached on the open end of the dip tube 30. The body 79 encloses a steel ball 82. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the inner surface of the body 79 is formed with four equally spaced ribs 81 whose upper inner edges 81a slant inwardly so as to form an upper retainer for the ball 82. The body 79 includes a pedestal member 83 attached to the lower end thereof. The bottom of pedestal member 83 which rests on the lower interior of the bottle 20 is provided with spaced ports 86 through which liquor can pass into the body 79. The ports 86 prevent the bottom of the pedestal member 83 from being locked on the bottom of the bottle. The upper end of the pedestal member 83 which is secured to the lower end of the body 79 of device 38 is provided with an aperture 85.

It is thus seen that the ball 82 is movable within the body 79 between an upper position in which it bears against the inwardly inclined edges 81a of the ribs 81 and a lower position in which it resides in the aperture 85 which is formed on the upper end of the pedestal member 83. When suction is applied by pump 11 through supply tube 41 and dip tube 30, the ball 82 in device 38 moves to its upper position in which it permits liquor from the bottle 20 to enter the ports 86 of the device 38 and to pass upwardly through the spacing between the ribs 81 and through the dip tube 30 into the metering chamber 43 of the pump 11. When supply tube 41 and dip tube 30 are no longer subjected to a suction the ball 82 settles in the aperture 85 where it becomes seated (FIG. 8) and prevents the liquor in the tubing leading to the chamber 43 from flowing back out of the tube 30.

The check valve device 38 on the end of the dip tube 30 in the first bottle 20 thus serves to prevent a loss of priming of the pump 11, as may occur during replenishing of the liquor supply, for example. In other words, if after the despensing system has been operating for a period of time, the first bottle 20 becomes either completely empty or partially empty, it will be desired to replace it with a full bottle at that location andmove that particular bottle, if it is partially empty, to the tail end of the series. In doing so it will be necessary to remove the stopper 25 and the dip tube 30 would come out with the stopper. Having the check valve device 38 on the end of the dip tube 30 insures that the liquor contents inside the tubing leading to the chamber 43 will remain there. So an undesired loss of the liquor is avoided as well as theproblem of having to take care of it when it spills out and, more importantly, a loss of prime on the pump is avoided. It should be particularly noted that if for any reason air bubbles were to become entrapped in the metering chamber 43 or the tubing leading to this chamber the precision of the dispensing operation would be destroyed.

In operation of the liquor supply system shown in FIG. 1, the last bottle 23 empties first, then the next to the last bottle 22 empties, and so on. As the last bottle 23 is being emptied the next to the last bottle 22 remains as full as it ever was. This mode of operation-fa cilitates replenishing the supply since it is never necessary to pour the contents of one bottle into another bottle. To illustrate, suppose that the last two bottles 22 and 23 are entirely empty and the next bottle is only partly full, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Ifthe operator wanted to replenish the supply at: this time, he could then remove the two empty bottles 22 and 23 from their respective stoppers 25 and take them away. He would then remove the full second bottle 21 and move it to the fourth and last position and put two new full.

bottles 21' and 22' in the second and third positions. The set of the bottles of the liquor supply would then be as illustrated in FIG. 2. Note that there was no need to pour liquor into or out of the partly filled bottle 21 in order to replenish the supply.

While the description has been concerned with a particular embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that many modifications and variations in the construction and arrangement thereof may be provided for without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. The invention is therefore considered as including all such possible modifications and variations coming within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:

1. In a liquid storage system including a plurality of bottles intercoupled in an airtight series between an inlet that is open to atmosphere and an outlet coupled to a dispensing pump, a stopper assembly comprising:

a stopper formed of hard material having a body with an elongated frusto-conical configuration, a circumferential flange on the relatively wide end of said body, inlet and outlet openings extending lengthwise through said body, a fitting for a'suction tube on the relatively narrow end of said body and communicating with the inlet end of said outlet opening, and a pair of fittings at the wide end of said body and communicating with respective ones of said openings;

and an adapter formed of relatively resilient material and having a frusto-conical sleeve configuration, said adapter being of such size as to fit over said stopper body with the wide end of said adapter engaging said flange;

8 surface of said member and each being radially spaced from the axial center of said member, the associated openings extending from their respective fittings through said disc-shaped member and then radially inward towards each other, the openings in said body being parallel to each other and aligned with the inner ends of the openings in said disc-shaped member. 

1. In a liquid storage system including a plurality of bottles intercoupled in an airtight series between an inlet that is open to atmosphere and an outlet coupled to a dispensing pump, a stopper assembly comprising: a stopper formed of hard material having a body with an elongated frusto-conical configuration, a circumferential flange on the relatively wide end of said body, inlet and outlet openings extending lengthwise through said body, a fitting for a suction tube on the relatively narrow end of said body and communicating with the inlet end of said outlet opening, and a pair of fittings at the wide end of said body and communicating with respective ones of said openings; and an adapter formed of relatively resilient material and having a frusto-conical sleeve configuration, said adapter being of such size as to fit over said stopper body with the wide end of said adapter engaging said flange; said body also having a lateral protusion at its relatively narrow end for retaining said adapter in place; whereby said stopper assembly can be fitted in airtight relationship into the mouth of any one of various sized bottles; wherein said stopper includes a disc-shaped member secured to the flanged end of said body, said pair of fittings being formed integrally with the outer surface of said member and each being radially spaced from the axial center of said member, the associated openings extending from their respective fittings through said disc-shaped member and then radially inward towards each other, the openings in said body being parallel to each other and aligned with the inner ends of the openings in said disc-shaped member. 